Willie Clark Sentenced To 420 Years For Murder Of Witness

DENVER (CBS4) - A man convicted in the murder of Denver Bronco Darrent Williams has been sentenced to life plus 420 years in the case of another murder.

Willie Clark was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, first-degree burglary, solicitation to commit murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and aggravated intimidation of a witness in the murder of 28-year-old Kalonnian Clark. The two are not related.

Kalonnian Clark was to testify against gang leader Brian Hicks. Hicks and Shun Birch have already been convicted in the killing of Kalonnian Clark.

Willie Clark is accused of being one of two men who broke into Kalonnian Clark's home and gunning her down as she ran away. He denies involvement and says he was at his cousin's house at the time of the slaying.

Many in the legal community saw the murder of a witness as an affront to the justice system.

"Anytime there is an act like this done, it goes to the very heart of the system," prosecutor Tim Twining said.

Willie Clark was already serving a life sentence in the New Year's Day 2007 slaying of Williams. From jail Willie Clark wrote CBS4's Rick Sallinger a letter. In handwriting that was the same as that used in a letter as evidence the Williams murder trial he wrote, "I am not the person I have been painted to be."

The trial like the one before it featured gang members getting lighter sentences in exchange for their testimony. Twining was asked if deals are made to bring people forward.

"No question. But those were decisions we had to make based on the evidence that we had," he said.